Recap: Maple Leafs 4, Coyotes 2

January 21, 2014|Reuters

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Recap: Maple Leafs 4, Coyotes 2

Maple Leafs 4, Coyotes 2: Phil Kessel remained hot with a goal and an assist as Toronto opened a four-game road trip with its fifth straight victory.Nazem Kadri and defenseman Jake Gardiner also recorded a goal and an assist apiece, blue-liner Carl Gunnarsson scored and Jonathan Bernier made 39 saves for the Maple Leafs, who have registered their first five-game winning streak since 2007. Kessel has collected 12 points during his six-game streak.

Mike Ribeiro scored a power-play goal and Antoine Vermette also tallied for Phoenix, which fell to 3-7-0 in its last 10 games. Lauri Korpikoski notched two assists and Mike Smith stopped 25 shots.

Kessel sent the puck in front for Gardiner's opening goal 16:17 into the game and fired a shot through traffic from the left-wing boards during a power play 2:02 later to give the Maple Leafs a 2-0 lead after one period. Gunnarsson went to the front of the net on a delayed penalty 5:10 into the second and batted home a rebound to extend the advantage.

Ribeiro spoiled Bernier's shutout bid 5:35 into the third by tapping home a feed from defenseman Keith Yandle while on the doorstep. Kadri's first goal since Dec. 23 - a man-advantage tally - restored Toronto's three-goal lead at 14:10, but Vermette scored while short-handed 49 seconds later to get Phoenix back within two.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Coyotes C Martin Hanzal missed Monday's game with a lower-body injury and is considered day-to-day. ... The Maple Leafs finished 2-for-6 on the power play. Toronto has scored a man-advantage goal in four of the five games during its streak. ... Phoenix was the only team in the NHL without a short-handed goal before Vermette's tally. ... The Maple Leafs improved to 6-3-0 against Pacific Division opponents.